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Biomedical subjects

C Klicpera

Publications and source records attributed to C Klicpera.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

[Does intelligence make a difference? Spelling and phonological readiness in specific and nonspecific reading/spelling disabilities].

OBJECTIVES: In an investigation involving, 1800 second-to-fourth graders, the children were divided into three groups according to their reading and spelling achievement and the results of a nonverbal intelligence test: children with average achievement in oral reading and spelling, and those with poor achievements in both which were either discrepant or non-discrepant to their good-to-average scores on the intelligence test. METHODS: Results for all three groups on a number of spelling tests were compiled to assess two component spelling skills: phonological recoding and application of orthographical knowledge. RESULTS: Children with either specific or nonspecific reading and spelling disabilities performed at the same level of phonological recoding, while both groups were worse than younger children of average ability at the same spelling level. Children with IQ-discrepant reading and spelling disabilities hat, on the other hand, a certain advantage over children with the same number of difficulties in spelling but a lower IQ on tasks requiring a knowledge of orthography. Though particularly evident in the lower grades, this advantage declined with advancing grade level. Additional comparison of the three groups in tests of phonological awareness and other phonological skills revealed a similar pattern of great differences between the two groups of poor readers and spellers and the average children, but slight non-significant differences between children with IQ-discrepant and non-discrepant reading and spelling disabilities.

Age Factors↗
PubMed2001

[Victimization by peers as a developmental risk factor].

The phenomenon of victimization in the peer group has received considerable attention in recent years. This review examines the current state of research in this area. About 10% of all students are affected by peer victimization and are repeatedly verbally or physically attacked by one or more of their fellow students. The causes are to be sought in the social context as well as in individual deficits in social skills, but also in the social-cognitive attributional patterns of the children. The parent-child relationship is another important risk factor. The stability of victimization is relatively high. Its short-term consequences consist of a negative mood and low self-esteem. In the long-term children feel lonely, helpless and sad. Recent research underscores a connection between victimization and the development of depressive disorders. Protective factors are composure in conflict situations, and especially the availability of at least one good friend. Therapeutic interventions are to be considered at the individual level as well as at the level of the classroom unit. Training in certain areas of social competence would be helpful for the children, but consultation for their parents and teachers is important in order to interrupt certain group dynamic processes in the classroom. Future research should address the topic of peer victimization in clinical samples.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2001

[Perception of the problems of poor readers and spellers by parents; Pygmalion in the living room?].

The reading and spelling development of 1800 children from grade 2 to 4 in Vienna and Lower Austria was investigated longitudinally over a school year. Teacher and parent judgements of the reading and spelling achievement was compared with test results. The parents were also interviewed by questionnaire about the home work situation, the reading behavior of the children and the possibilities to help the children outside school. A moderate concordance was found between parent and teacher judgements of the achievement levels and the results of readings and spelling tests. According to a structural equation model the judgement of the parents was only influenced by the judgements of the teachers and not by the achievement levels indicated in the test results. The comparison of children with different achievement levels, where the parents either assumed that the children had reading and spell-ing difficulties or not, showed that children with difficulties in the eyes of the parents had motivation problems in the homework situation and with reading. Despite the increased practice with the parents and the higher frequency of professional help for these children their progress in reading and spelling during the school year was less than that of other children. This reminds us to be careful in counseling parents of children with reading and spelling difficulties. It emphasizes the danger, that some parents exert to much pressure when they become aware of the reading and spelling difficulties of their children. A detailed analysis of the handling of academic achievement problems in the family seems indicated and this should also be stressed in the further education of teachers.

Austria↗
PubMed2000

[Therapy motivation of students: the desire for pedagogic-therapeutic help].

As part of an investigation of Austrian school counseling services 9-to-14-years-old students of 25 classes in primary and secondary schools answered a questionnaire regarding their classroom situation which included questions about the wish for pedagogical-therapeutic help by a counseling teacher. Through a pupil nomination inventory an independent evaluation of the student behavior was achieved. The results revealed that about a fourth of all pupils had the wish for a possibility to talk over their concerns and a sixth had the wish for support in their relationships with their fellow students. A detailed analysis of the characteristics of students with a wish for support revealed that loneliness and depression as well as victimization by other students were important motives for the wish for support. Aggressive behavior was not a reason for wishing support in the relationship with other students. Consequences for the organization of counseling services in schools are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

[Social competence in children with social adjustment disorders].

Teachers and parents of a sample of 1774 students at three grade levels (4th, 6th and 8th grades) were asked to judge the social competence of the children by means of the social competence questionnaire by Buhrmester et al. (1988). These ratings were correlated with the social status of the pupils, with peer statements on aggressive behavior and victimization and with the teachers' ratings of behavior in class and towards fellow pupils. Teachers proved to be more critical than parents, crediting boys with less social competence than girls, though this difference diminished in the higher grades. Ratings of social competence differed significantly both with regard to respective social status, as well as to frequent involvement in aggressive disputes as reported by peers. Children rated by the teachers as hyperactive were no less socially competent than aggressive or aggressive-hyperactive children. Victims of peer aggression and particularly shy and withdrawn children were rated the least socially competent by parents and teachers. Implications for the training of the social skills of children with peer relationship problems are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1997

[Aggressiveness and social status in the class social structure].

Both aggressive behavior and an outsider position in the peer group can be regarded as risk factors for the social development and long-term adjustment of children. The aim of the present investigation was to analyze the influence of these two factors on the social experiences of students in secondary school. The presence of aggressive behavior was determined by means of peer ratings and self-ratings. Classroom climate, i.e. the quality of the sense of community in a class, was considered as a modifying factor. In a first step, from 96 classes in the first and third grades of secondary school two extreme groups of 24 classes each were formed on the basis of student evaluations of the cohesion in the class and the frequency of aggressive arguments between students. At this time the students also rated other aspects of their social experiences at school. In a second step, sociometric data were obtained in the selected classes on the most liked and least liked classmates and on certain behaviors to determine the social position of the students in their peer group and their involvement in aggressive arguments. The social experiences attitudes and values of the students were highly correlated with the frequency of their involvement in aggressive arguments. There were some marked discrepancies between peer ratings and self-ratings of behavior, but both types of rating appear to have some clinical relevance. Beside the social status in the peer group the classroom climate had considerable impact on the social experiences of aggressive children. In addition, there were indications that the classroom climate plays a role in the social status of aggressive students in the class.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

[The status of aggressive children and victims of aggression in school].

In a representative sample of 1594 pupils of the eight grade in Vienna and lower Austria the experiences of conflicts among pupils and the other school experiences were explored. Based on the reports of their own involvement in aggressive acts 4 groups of pupils were formed--a group which was themself aggressive against other pupils in their class but was no target of aggression (bullies); a group which was frequently a target of aggression; a group which was both--aggressive and target of aggression and finally an uninvolved group. It was shown that aggressive children had a high self-reported readiness to solve conflicts through physical power and that they were often involved in other dissocial acts in school. A major part of these pupils had a rather negative image of their school and of the teachers. The self-concept and the perception of their own role in class depended very much on their being a target of aggression or not. Parallels between these two subgroups and the distinction between socialized and undersocialized aggression are highlighted. In addition the special situation of those pupils who are a target of aggression without being aggressive is considered.

Aggression↗
PubMed1995

[To what extent do school and class-specific factors contribute to aggression in schools?].

In a representative study conducted in Vienna and Lower Austria, 14-year-old students from one class each in 79 different schools (N = 1594) answered a questionnaire about their experiences at school, the main focus being on aggressive acts that occurred at school. In a parallel investigation, the students' teachers (N = 554) completed a similar questionnaire. The reports on the frequency of aggressive behavior differed widely among the classes. A comparison of classes with different levels of aggressive behavior showed that solidarity within the classroom and the relationship between teachers and students were closely associated with the frequency of aggressive behavior. In classrooms with frequent aggressive acts there was a negative attitude towards outsiders and the students were less inclined to intervene in an unfair fight. Furthermore, they were more critical of discussions with their teachers. Even after social and familial factors were controlled for, the influence of school-specific factors on the frequency of aggressive behavior at school was quite large, explaining about 25% of the variance. The consequences for counseling of schools and for teacher education are discussed.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[What are the differences between average readings with writing difficulties and children with reading and writing difficulties? Follow-up, kind of writing errors and learning prerequisites].

As part of the Viennese longitudinal study on the development of reading and writing skills, children with spelling problems were differentiated from children with combined reading and spelling problems. It could be shown that children with spelling problems only are a rather inhomogeneous group with regard to their further development. At the end of the eighth grade some children still have circumscribed spelling problems, whereas others have overcome their early problems, and still others have also fallen behind in their reading skills. These groups of children can be differentiated early on by the type of spelling errors they make, by their cognitive abilities and by social factors. Children with combined reading and spelling problems are characterized especially by a lack of phonemic awareness.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1994

[Is reading and writing performance of boys more dependent on quality of education than the performance of girls?].

In a longitudinal study of the reading and spelling development stable differences between classes were observed. These differences could be explained only in part by differences in the mean of intelligence. In reading and spelling skills the girls were about the same level in all classes, whereas the boys in the low-achievement classes were much poorer readers and spellers than those in the high-achievement classes. The question whether the differences between classes in achievement level could be explained as the consequences of differences in the quality of reading instruction is discussed as well as the additional question whether the larger differences between boys in different classes than between girls might be due to an interaction of factors at school and outside of school.

Austria↗
PubMed1993

[Incidence of emotional problems and behavioral difficulties in school and correlation with reading and writing disorders: results of a longitudinal study].

As a part of a longitudinal study on reading development from the 2th to the 8th grade teachers ratings about behavior problems of school children and their emotional situation were assessed. Problems in motivation and concentration were reported most frequent. Comparing children with poor reading and spelling ability to children without deficits in reading and spelling, differences could be found. Poor readers and spellers showed more dissocial and disturbing classroom behavior. Nevertheless, those problems were as persistent as the problems reported for children, who did not show any reading and spelling difficulties, or increasing in nearly the same ratio over time. This results does not support the hypothesis, that behavior problems may occur as a consequence of learning difficulties.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1993

[Learning to read and write in compulsory education: a longitudinal study of the incidence and stability of reading and writing difficulties in a Vienna school district].

In a longitudinal study, the development of reading and spelling skills was analyzed in about 500 Viennese school children from first through eighth grade. Performance in reading and spelling was tested at least once a year through grade four and then again at the end of eighth grade using standardized reading and spelling tests. The differences among the children in reading and spelling skills were found to be very stabile over time, and if there was difficulty with reading and spelling early on this usually persisted. Only a few of the children who had problems with reading in second grade improved enough so that they attained average scores at the end of eighth grade. The poorest readers read at the same level at the end of fourth grade as average readers did at the end of first grade. At the end of eighth grade these children had attained the level of average readers at the end of second grade. Similarly, poor spellers showed less improvement over time than children with average spelling skills. By the end of eighth grade these children had fallen way behind their peers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1987

[Reproduction of picture stories by autistic, learning disordered and normal children].

Autistic, learning disabled and young normal children (9 each) matched for mental age were shown 6 sets of picture cards and asked to answer questions about the pictures, arrange the cards in the correct sequence and tell the story. The picture descriptions and the stories the children told were analyzed with reference to the concept of story schemes to identify the comprehension deficits peculiar to the autistic group. The autistic children had great difficulty in making the correct associations between the different elements of the action sequences and in recognizing the motives of the interacting persons.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1984

Anxiety and depression in affective disorders.

Anxiety and depression were assessed with self-rating and observer-rating scales on admission and at discharge in 414 inpatients with endogenous or neurotic depression, anxiety neurosis or phobic disorders. The results were compared with findings in a reference group of 2,493 inpatients with a wide range of psychiatric disorders and a representative sample of the general population consisting of 1,952 persons. On admission the patients with anxiety neurosis and all of those with depressive disorders were significantly more anxious than the psychiatric reference group, whereas the phobic patients were only slightly more anxious. As was to be expected, the depressive groups showed the greatest depressivity, whereas the group with anxiety neurosis differed only slightly from the psychiatric reference group and the patients with phobias were actually below this reference group. During the treatment period there was a marked decrease in anxiety among the depressive patients but not in those with anxiety neurosis. The decrease in depressivity in the neurotic depressive patients was much less than in those with endogenous depression. Mixed anxiety depression was found with about the same frequency in both the neurotic and the endogenous depression groups. In general, anxiety and depressivity decreased over the treatment period, with persistence greatest in the anxiety neurosis group. On admission there was a more pronounced connection between anxiety and psychomotor agitation, on discharge between anxiety and psychomotor retardation.

Adult↗
PubMed1984

[Neuropsychologic contribution to dyslexia research. A review of important explanatory models and findings].

Since in a substantial proportion of reading-disabled children constitutional factors appear to play an important pathogenetic role, major contributions to a better understanding of dyslexia have long come from the fields of neuropsychology and behavioral neurology. In this overview an attempt is made to describe the most important hypotheses and models on which neuropsychological research on this problem has been based. The first section is devoted to a discussion of findings on acquisition of reading and spelling skills by brain-damaged children and on the effect of the localization of central nervous system lesions on reading disorders in children. Classic neurological disorders are seen in only a small proportion of children with reading retardation, however. Therefore the second section comprises a discussion of various hypotheses that have been developed to explain the particular performance profiles seen in children with dyslexia but with no evidence of brain damage, i.e. in those children who can be said to have a developmental disorder. It is emphasized that dyslexia is probably not a uniform syndrome but that rather different subgroups of reading-disabled children can be identified.

Brain↗
PubMed1983

Anxiety in schizophrenic psychoses.

Anxiety and depression were assessed with self-rating and observer-rating scales on admission and at discharge in 225 inpatients with hebephrenic, catatonic, paranoid or residual schizophrenia. The control subjects were 104 patients with endogenous depression and 63 with anxiety neurosis. The results were also compared with findings for a reference group of 2493 inpatients with a wide range of psychiatric disorders and a representative sample of the general population consisting of 1952 persons. On admission the group of schizophrenic patients was markedly more anxious than the group of healthy persons, slightly less anxious than the psychiatric reference group and much less anxious than the group with endogenous depression and anxiety neurosis. Anxiety correlated significantly with acute paranoid symptoms, whereas depression dominated just prior to discharge, when the acute symptoms had subsided. This indicates that anxiety is a consequence of the underlying schizophrenic disorder and also that the psychotic symptoms may not be a defense against anxiety.

Adult↗